Gerth, Helmut (German, Canadian 1917-2008) Oil Painting. “Spanish Village”. Oil on canvas painting. Signed lower left. In good condition. Measures 15 ” x 19 ”. Frame measures 19 ” x 23 ”.

The artist’s obituary Dec. 7, 2008 from canada.com: Helmut Gerth, an accomplished West Island watercolour artist, encouraged hundreds of people who didn't know they had talent to take up the brush. Gerth was 91 when he died Monday, the day after he received a distinguished service award from the Morgan Arboretum in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. A former German army officer, Gerth was director emeritus of the 245-hectare arboretum, where he taught art for more than 40 years. He and his dog were a familiar sight on the grounds almost daily as Gerth sought inspiration for some of his works. In 1991 he initiated what has become an annual art sale, Arbo Expo, which raises money for the arboretum. His friends and many pupils are invited to remember him this afternoon between 2 and 4 p.m. at Collins Clarke MacGillivray White, at 222 Highway 20 in Pointe Claire. "He was passionate about art, animals and nature so we got along well together," said long-time friend Elizabeth Morgan. "He was always so elegant, so well dressed, he was certainly someone to see and to listen to, he was very erudite. He would come over to the house and hold court. He taught painting forever on the West Island." Gerth, a dentist's son, was born in Stettin, the state capital of what was then Pomerania, (now Szczecin, Poland), Feb. 4, 1917. Although largely self-taught, he studied drawing and painting with German painter Otto Thaemer. Gerth was 22 when the Second World War began and fought as a lieutenant in the German army's 223 Division. After the German surrender he spent a year and a half as a U.S. prisoner of war. "I had the good luck of hitting it off with my American counterpart, Colonel Steven Regner," he said. "In Italy I was put in charge of two-and-a-half thousand German and Italian prisoners and he allowed me to keep my dog, which was against the rules," he said in a Gazette interview. "When the dog was run over and killed by an American army vehicle, Regner brought me a bottle of scotch, which was as forbidden in the camp as the dog was forbidden." In 1947 he published an illustrated war diary, and with the proceeds from its sale travelled through Scandinavia, Italy, Israel and Greece and exhibited his works in Berlin, Munich and Paris. In 1955 Gerth emigrated to Canada with his wife and his sister's three children, whom he raised in Montreal. He opened a display company and did work for Molson Breweries before joining the Information, Advertising and Public Relations department for Expo 67. "It was difficult for him to make a life for himself when he first arrived in Canada, he had to shovel snow and do odd jobs to support his family," said Yves Jasmin, who was head of Expo's public relations department. "His military background was always the elephant in the room, the fact that he had served in the German army and was unapologetic about it was always a delicate point." In spite of his past, Gerth did display work for the Steinberg grocery chain. He also taught and gave art workshops in Maine, Vermont, and in Quebec's Charlevoix region. "He knew the great spots to paint," said watercolour artist Mary Hughson. "He had a sense of immediacy and was very decisive, and he tried to instil that in his pupils so their work was fresh and spontaneous. In watercolours, people can dab and dab until it turns to mud. He really pushed his students to raise the bar a little and to exhibit their work." His watercolours can be found in several museums and private collections in Canada and the United States. He designed and created murals for Trudeau International Airport and Prince Philip has one of Gerth's landscapes. "He never knew where his next dollar was coming from, and it never bothered him. He was generous to a fault," said his nephew, Christian Wendlandt. "He never thought about the consequences of what he did. He was just happy to live with his dog, fresh air and his paint box." Gerth was twice married and leaves two children, Renate and Herald from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. His second wife, Ines Dittmer, died in 1980.